How Social Media Can Help You Achieve Maximum Influence in 2017

ByDiana Morgan

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24 Jul, 2017

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Building influence on social media involves caring about others and sharing your own message.

Building influence on social media involves caring about others and
sharing your own message. Theodore Roosevelt said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” We all want to feel seen and heard. Here are the three C’s of growing your online presence to build influence that will bring you referrals and clients ongoing.

Content

First, think about content, yours and other people’s. You will build influence if your online presence authentically reflects you and your core message, in other words your mission. For example, my mission is
to empower and educate people on how to use Internet technology to share their message, nurture relationships, grow their business and bridge the inter-generational gap that has been created by technology and by doing so, further heal the planet.
What is your mission, your core message? When you share your content and when you LIKE, comment and share other people’s messages, share content that is aligned with your core message.

Consistency

Social media is a 24/7 networking event. Just like any networking group, if you want to build influence with your online community, show up consistently with your brand and your message so people can grow to know, like and trust you. Consistency also includes a healthy balance of visibility and engagement. Share your content and
engage with others.

Connection

Social media provides unlimited opportunities to connect and build relationships that turn into referrals and clients. Connect with people on a personal level by going beyond “LIKE” to really engage in a conversation. Here is my Social Media Success Formula for Maximum Influence:

Authentically engage with your online community (50%)

Share your education, information, inspiration (40%)

Promote your own products and services (10%)

Build your influence with these three C’s. The more influence you have, the less you need to promote!

Facebook is a great place to connect
with people you meet in person, whether at networking or social events, or even people you just met on social media. Whenever you meet someone, ask if they would like to stay connected on social media. Send them a “friend request.” Check out their personal profile and business page to see what they are up to. See who their “friends” are. It’s a great way to get to know people, stay connected and deepen relationships.

Stay Connected to People on Facebook without Being Salesy

Like, Comment and Share their content.
It’s just the same as a networking event. You don’t want to meet someone, introduce yourself and immediately start promoting what you’re selling. You want to get to know one another .

Join a few groups. Each group has its own culture. You want to get to know and understand the culture of the group before you begin participating. The first step in beginning to participate is to say hello and introduce yourself. Then get to know people in the group.

When Do You Promote What You’re Selling?

Figure out when is a good time to promote what you’re selling. Groups often have a certain day of the week that they designate for this. If there’s someone in the Facebook group with whom you think you might have a connection, you can start a conversation and then take your conversation to email, phone or Skype.

The mission
of Whole Heart Marketing
is to empower and educate people on how to use internet technology to share their message, nurture relationships, and growtheir business
and
in doing so, bridge the intergenerational gap that has been created by technology,
and further heal the planet.

Blogging is not supposed to be tedious because it’s a rather relaxed form of writing, but some people encounter difficulties maintaining blogs.

If you’re one of them, here are a few useful tips.

Keep a Pen and Paper Handy

You never know when inspiration could strike, so always have a pen and a small notebook ready where you can write down anything interesting that crosses your mind any time, any where. This way, you can go back to that inspiration when you’re finally in front of your computer and ready to blog away.

Create a “Keywords” List

If you’re doing SEO writing for your own blog, it’s best if you create a list of keywords that you will likely use and how best to use them in the blog. This way, you can consider the effectiveness of the keywords and how to phrase them naturally and thus avoid deadlocks.

Make a Schedule

It’s always wise to set a schedule. You can do this using your computer, or you can write it down on paper if necessary. Include rest and personal time. Should emergencies arise, your set schedule will let you know how far behind you are and how much work you need to do to be on track again or if it’s time to ask for help.

Encourage Guest Posts

If you’re preoccupied with other things or feeling burnt out, guest posts are very helpful. To ensure the quality of guest posts, set clear requirements so you won’t feel bad rejecting a badly written submission.

Recycle Old Posts

If you’re busy and also do not have any guest posts, you can always rewrite an old post. Write it in a new angle, make it timely if applicable, and add those elements that you originally left out because it made the post too long for comfort. If the old post was all text, maybe you can add a photo this time. The blog post should be something you enjoyed writing to avoid feeling “forced” to rewrite it.

Don’t Think That You Are Blogging

When blogging, sometimes we get too focused on what the readers might think about our posts. Will they like it? Will they be amazed? Or will they find something wrong with it?

People will always have something to say, be it good or bad. Sometimes it helps to forget that you are blogging when you are blogging. It takes the pressure off your shoulders and lets you enjoy what you’re doing. Don’t forget, blogging is supposed to be fun.

The Internet is a powerful force for positive change in the world. Here are three empowered ways to use social media:

Marketing is Life or Death—Share Your Message of Transformationon Social Media!
Does what you do save lives? If you are a healer of any kind, you save lives. Your people need you! If you are not getting your heart message out to your people, you yourself might be dying inside. I believe we have reached the time when we must really own who we are and what we came here for. To do our soul’s work and be willing to shout it from the rooftops. Share how people are transformed by the work that you do. Share stories of transformation.

Our Younger Generations Need Our Wisdom and Inspiration—Share Hope
​You have an opportunity on social media to share whatever you want to share. Often I hear people say they don’t know what to share or they are overwhelmed just being on Facebook. Here are some suggestions. Share your message of hope and inspiration. Share other people’s messages of hope and inspiration. When you are reading people’s posts on social media, share what touches your soul, brings a tear to your eye or joy to your heart. Think about the positive footprint you want to leave on the Internet and let yourself be heard through that filter.

We Need the Inspiration and Wisdom of Our Younger Generations—Share Their Message
I encourage you to approach social media as the powerful tool that it is. Look for things to LIKE, comment and share that reflect your vision, values and message. Look to people from the younger generations on social media who are thought leaders and visionaries and share their messages. If you look for them, you will find them!

Building influence on social media involves caring about others and
sharing your own message. Theodore Roosevelt said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” We all want to feel seen and heard. Here are the three C’s of growing your online presence to build influence that will bring you referrals and clients ongoing.

Content

First, think about content, yours and other people’s. You will build influence if your online presence authentically reflects you and your core message, in other words your mission. For example, my mission is
to empower and educate people on how to use Internet technology to share their message, nurture relationships, grow their business and bridge the inter-generational gap that has been created by technology and by doing so, further heal the planet.
What is your mission, your core message? When you share your content and when you LIKE, comment and share other people’s messages, share content that is aligned with your core message.

Consistency

Social media is a 24/7 networking event. Just like any networking group, if you want to build influence with your online community, show up consistently with your brand and your message so people can grow to know, like and trust you. Consistency also includes a healthy balance of visibility and engagement. Share your content and
engage with others.

Connection

Social media provides unlimited opportunities to connect and build relationships that turn into referrals and clients. Connect with people on a personal level by going beyond “LIKE” to really engage in a conversation. Here is my Social Media Success Formula for Maximum Influence:

Authentically engage with your online community (50%)

Share your education, information, inspiration (40%)

Promote your own products and services (10%)

Build your influence with these three C’s. The more influence you have, the less you need to promote!

Cultivating community through your social media begins with building your own online presence. Let’s start with Facebook. To begin, you will want your online presence to reflect a clear, focused message so people can get to know you on both your personal and business pages. Everything you LIKE, share or comment on in some way reflects your message. As you share content that expresses your brand, people who have an interest in what you are up to will gravitate toward you, and your following will begin to grow.

Start Your Own Community

Now that you have an online presence and a following, you can start to cultivate community by creating a Facebook Group. Facebook Groups offer a powerful way to connect in community. There are groups forming all the time on just about any topic you can think of. When you set up your group, use your name and the topic in the title so people can find you by searching either category. Then invite your friends and other people you think might be interested in your group. The key to a successful group is to encourage members to participate and connect, and to offer great information.

Join a Couple of Facebook Groups

Now that you have an online presence where people can get to know you, and a Facebook Group for people to join you in community, you can go find people who you would like to invite to be in your community. I recommend joining a couple of groups to start with. It takes time to find a great group that has active participation, good conversation and sharing of quality content. Once you join, get to know the members and actively participate, when and if appropriate, you can invite them to check out your group

I blog because it’s a way to reach my people, my tribe, with my heart. I admit that a lot of my posts don’t appear to be from my heart because I often blog about technical aspects of blogging, Social Media, SEO and Internet Marketing too. Whenever a client asks me a question about how to do something related to what I teach, I write a blog post. I figure, if one person is asking, there are 10 or 100 who also want to know the answer! But it’s still from my heart. I am really passionate about teaching internet marketing strategies and that’s from my heart!

What Will I Talk About?

Last night I attended a networking event and I started chatting with a woman entrepreneur about blogging. She said she had no idea what to blog about. Have you had that thought? She is like so many people who are stopped in their tracks before they even start by that thought, “What will I talk about?” There are other versions of that thought too, like “I’m not a writer”, “who will want to read what I’ve written” and on and on!

She is the owner of a consignment store where they have so many different types of cool unique, even amazing items. I shared with her about another client I had worked with who was selling designer ties on Ebay. Her tie sales were going pretty well, so I recommended that she start writing a blog post about some of the designer ties. Every time she wrote a post about a tie, that tie would sell and her overall sales would increase. Even if the tie she wrote about had been sold, it brought people to the site and they purchased other ties!

Blog About your Products

I suggested to the owner of the consignment shop that she start blogging about some of the items in the store; telling the stories of the items, describing them, talking about the store through the inventory. I recommended that she choose items from her main categories of items in the store. That way, even if the item she blogged about was sold, there would still be other items in that category for people to purchase. I told her that if she got any “brand name” new or newer items, she could blog about those as well. I reminded her to be sure and tag the items with keywords.

You Are a Writer!

It was really amazing for me to see the light bulb go on for her when I shared about the ties and how she could find unlimited ideas to blog about from her own inventory. She realized that she actually does have something to write about and now she can launch her blog and feel excited about it.

I have often observed that, when it comes to blogging, the “I’m not a writer” is really more about not knowing what to write about.

Does this sound like you?
I hear this at least once a day from someone. And you can imagine that I hear it more than
that, as a social media strategist. I
can save you from the depressing world of Facebook! Yes, I said it! I can save you! Every day I show people how to use Facebook
to change the world in a positive direction.

Here are 3 things you can do today!

First, I recommend that you share your positive message of
hope and inspiration

It doesn’t have to be exactly about your business. It can be related to your marketing message
in some way. Share it on your personal
page, your business page and in any groups you are participating in. Share it with a beautiful picture. Try sharing inspirational quotes related to
your message. What is your message? How do you want to inspire people? What is the transformation you would like to
see in the world? Share about that. Notice how your social media will transform
into something positive and inspiring, just like you!

Second, I suggest that you find people who are in alignment
with you to play with on Facebook

Who
are your “strategic partners?” Who are the people who are attracting a similar
audience to you, sharing similar values and offering different services or
products. Play with them, share their
content, connect!

Third, I encourage you to be focused and intentional with
your social media

When you go to
Facebook, before you even open it up, think about your intention. What is your goal? To find people of like mind to play
with? To get your message out? To be
uplifting and transformational? Whatever
you goal is, it will be reflected in your messaging and actions.

Many people don’t get on Facebook with intention merely
because they just don’t know where to start.
They find it difficult to focus with so many options. And Facebook is changing every time you turn
around so even if you did learn how to do something on, it might be different
within a few weeks! If you would like a
little guidance, that’s what I’m here for.
Maybe you just need a little help or have some questions. That’s why most people give up, just a couple
of questions and no one to ask. Are you
finally ready to make an impact and reach your people? Well I’m waiting for you! I’ve helped 100’s of people just like you
step into their Social Media Presence, share their voice and share it loudly
and proudly on Facebook and other Social Media.

Join me on this Free Teleclass
where you will have a Social
Media Mindset Breakthrough; Prepare to be Visible!

You will*

*Learn the first steps to reaching your target audience

*Discover how to find unlimited engaging content that people
will read and share

*Have a Social Media Mindset Breakthrough and be excited to
start creating relationships that turn into referrals and clients!

Maintaining a credible blog is crucial to your success. It is that credibility that drives readers to learn more, engage, form opinions, and even make decisions. Simply put, blog credibility is what keeps your readers coming back for more of your posts and updates. So, how do you ensure your blog’s credibility?

For starters, make sure you’re blogging about something you love and know a great deal about. You will find that the more you know about something, the easier it will be to write about. Furthermore, because it’s something you love, you’ll also be motivated to update your blog regularly and find new things to write.

Make sure your content is highly informative and high-quality. If you’re doing a food or craft blog, for instance, it would help your followers out a lot if you include photos and videos to give them a better idea of what you’d like to share. If you’re sharing your opinion on a relevant news story, you may want to include a link leading to an official news video or article on the issue you are commenting about. Having things like these on your blog makes it much easier for your followers to see your point of view on things, and maybe get encouraged to share their opinions through comments, too.

Speaking of comments, take the time to reply to comments and questions that your visitors post. This helps build the interactivity part of the blog, involving your readers in discussions, bouncing ideas and ideas off each other, and just ultimately making a connection. Lesser interaction from you may discourage your visitors to come back to your blog. On the other hand, some visitors may share your replies or recommend your blog to their friends if they see you are attentive to their opinions. Reply on your blog and on social media.

Blog credibility is a great thing to have, and takes a reasonable amount of work to maintain. It may sound like a lot to do right now, but once you get it started and get the hang of it, and you start to see the return on your investment, it’ll be a worth it.

The first step to your successful online marketing plan is to “Get Your Blog On”. This means, start a blog. I recommend using a WordPress Website
as a platform for your blog. Having a blog allows you to express your humanity online. It allows you to create relationships with your clients and potential clients. It also allows you to position yourself as an expert in your field, sharing your expertise freely.

Before you start to really blog like crazy, I recommend figuring out what your blog will be about. Having a focus for your blog will help you reach more people. That may seem backwards but here’s how it works. If you blog about everything under the sun, or a number of really different subjects, then you will reach some people with each of those subjects, maybe. The sad truth is that you have about 3 seconds to grab someone, once they land on your page. If someone lands on your blog and it’s not what they are looking for, they will bounce off of your site and they might not come back. Sometimes you only get one chance to grab someone that lands on your site. If they land on your site and it’s what they were looking for, they will stay longer, read more and even take an action on your site, like sign up for your “free report” or subscribe to your blog.

Build an Email Mailing List

The second step to your successful online marketing plan is to build an email mailing list. This includes a few things. Keep blogging. Keep sharing your blog. And build a list. Build a list with an email capture and list building program like Aweber
or Mail Chimp. I have used Aweber for quite some time now. (I am an Aweber affiliate so if you decide to try Aweber and you click on the link I will actually get about .5 cents/month!) I have used I have used Mail Chimp, Aweber and Constant Contact and found Aweber to be the most user friendly and functional for building a list and keeping in touch with my list.

I have found that blogging is a great way to build relationships with the people who don’t know they need you or aren’t ready for you yet. You can continue to educate and inspire them until they are ready by getting them on your list. If you set up an email capture program, you can encourage people to subscribe, build a list and, then you can keep in touch with the people on your list very easily. You can send them your blog posts and other information that you have as it comes up.

Get Your Blog Moving

The third step to your successful online marketing plan is to “Get Your Blog Moving.” In other words, get your blog out to the world via Social Media and other online avenues like guest blogging and affiliate partners. It’s great to have a blog but if you don’t really share it regularly, not that many people will benefit from your wisdom and expertise. You will remain “the best kept secret.”

Marketing your message is like ordering food at a Mexican restaurant. Once you have identified and clarified your core message, you are going to brand your online presence through your core message. Depending on who you are targeting, you package your message accordingly. I recommend you say it a variety of ways to reach different people. Overall you want all of your content on social media to be an expression of your brand, your core message, even when you like, comment and share other people’s content, you want it to be in alignment with your brand.

How do you Communicate what you do to Different Types of People on Social Media?

It’s just like ordering Mexican food. You have your taco, your enchilada, your tostada and your burrito. Truth is, it’s all the same ingredients inside, the core message is the same. It’s just a matter of how you serve it on the plate. Nothing has changed about your product or service. You know what you do. It’s just how you communicate it. And we all know what we like at the Mexican restaurant. It’s just the packaging, crispy taco shell, soft tortilla, lotsa lettuce…

When you are Creating your Social Media Content to Post

This is a great analogy to use when you are creating your social media content. Not everyone will resonate with the same images, videos, words etc. You don’t have to change your message, after all, it’s your message! You just change the packaging, the mediums, images etc. And you will reach different people with different images and mediums. Think about this, if all Mexican restaurants were just taco stands they would reach a lot less of their target audience. But since there are so many different types of Mexican restaurants, foods, etc., the likelihood that they will reach their intended market is much higher. The next time you start to choose your content for social media, think carefully if you’re communicating your message with just tacos or if you will try tostadas, enchiladas and burritos to reach more people!